Clippard, Nationals agree to one-year contract

WASHINGTON -- There won't be any arbitration hearings for the Nationals in 2014. The club ensured that on Monday, agreeing to a one-year contract with right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard, the last of its 10 arbitration-eligible players this offseason.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but CBSSports.com reported that Clippard will make $5.875 million. The right-hander, who made $4 million in 2013, had requested $6.35 million, while the Nats countered with $4.45 million. The two sides settled a little above the $5.4 million midpoint in the third of Clippard's four arbitration years, before he reaches free agency after the '15 season.

Clippard, who turns 29 on Friday, has spent the past six seasons with Washington. He has appeared in more than 70 games in each of the past four, throwing 323 innings with a 2.73 ERA.

Clippard was a consistent force in the Nationals' bullpen again in 2013, going 6-3 with a 2.41 ERA in 71 innings, striking out 73 and walking 24. The setup man held right-handed batters to a .151 average, while lefties hit .152 against him.

Before agreeing to the deal with Clippard, the Nats had signed one-year contracts with holdovers Ross Detwiler, Ross Ohlendorf, Wilson Ramos, Drew Storen and Stephen Strasburg, as well as newcomers Jerry Blevins and Doug Fister. They also inked Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann to two-year extensions.